‘I was in floods of tears’: Trainee teachers react as Teach First asks some people to defer or cancel places amid pandemic

“I had just left my job. Now, I don’t have a job for September,” says one woman who was expecting to train to be a teacher this year.

Natalie*, a hopeful primary school teacher, is one of more than 100 people who have been told to either defer or cancel their training places with Teach First this week.

“I am the main breadwinner in my family. I support my parents,” she tells The Independent. “I don’t know what I’m going to do at this stage.”

She recently left her job at a corporate firm for the training programme, although is now worried about finding a new one in the current job market. “It is going to be tricky,” she adds.

The chief executive of Teach First – which runs a popular teacher training programme – says they had to make the “terrible decision” to reduce their intake by 120 this year.

The charity says coronavirus has led to schools having to delay recruiting new teachers as they focus on getting up-and-running for more students during the pandemic.

“We have been unable to find enough vacancies in eligible schools in the right subjects and areas,” Russell Hobby, the chief executive, said on Twitter earlier this week. “Understandably, schools have been reducing or withdrawing vacancies.”

One of those people affected was Shafia Begum, an aspiring English teacher in Greater Manchester.

“I was preparing to do the Summer Institute next week and then I received the email,” she tells The Independent. “It was a shock to the system.”

Shafia says she has received a positive response after tweeting about her situation, with officials from other training programmes reaching out to her.

“Now I’ve applied through UCAS so hopefully I get a place with one of those providers and I can still go into teaching in September,” she says.

She says this would mean going through student finance again, as opposed to the salaried position offered by Teach First.

However, she is feeling more positive now she has explored options. “I feel so much better than a few days ago when I found out. I was crying all day.”

Jane* from South Yorkshire, who says she was also told to either defer or leave the scheme, tells The Independent she has luckily managed to get her job back after quitting.

“I was distraught. I was in floods of tears as I thought I’ve handed in my notice now,” she says. “I’ve completely changed my life.”

Jane, who wants to be a languages teacher, says she has been “really lucky” to keep her job, and has heard of others who have not had the same chance as her.

Natalie, who left her job for the training programme last Friday, says she wishes Teach First had told her to hold off resigning during a conversation she had with them the day before.

“If they had said don’t leave tomorrow, give us a week, I wouldn’t have left my job,” she says.

Teach First have apologised to all of their recruits they have not been able to find a placement for this year.

“As a result of Covid-19 schools have faced huge challenges, meaning many have had to delay teacher recruitment whilst they rightly focus on opening to more pupils,” Mr Hobby says.

“We know that teachers are at the heart of the nation’s recovery and we are deeply sorry for the impact this has on each person.

“We are contacting everyone affected to explore the support we can offer this year and the option to start next year when we hope schools will resume normal recruitment of teachers.

“This difficult situation is no reflection on the potential of these individuals to be great teachers: we simply don’t have access to the vacancies needed.”

*These women wished to stay anonymous incase they defer their places